23:53 - Sunny PagliaccioNote to self: Do NOT open links on max volume in the middle of a quiet night. Otherwise, not bad. :D

23:52 - ApothecaryFast food workers planning a strike in support of $15/hour wages next month. I'm a tutor in a reading lab at a college and I don't even make that much, a bit of an overestimation of one's importance, don'tcha think?

The brigades of Hell are once again preparing to siege the gates of Heaven. 2005's Dodens Evangelium caused major harm amongst the angelic lines, five years later commander Ondskapt has Arisen From The Ashes, gathering once again his legions south of Heaven.

Once again, like on their previous effort, the guitars work as the main atmosphereric factor, an unearthly, threatening and dreary aura overruns all compositions like a moving mist, following every step you make. The railway, neverending guitar riffing plants the seeds of hatred while the furious rhythm section makes them bloom in explosive ways, forging an impenetrable wall of sound that marches on and on. This time though, one may notice a sense of ominous melody appearing quite often, this doesn't mean Ondskapt surrender while slowing down the attack, they're misleading the enemy, like the calmness before the next bombardment. Acerbus howls in trance, cursing the heavenly tranquility, with his vocals floating all over the place as if they are flowing from one of the pits of Hell; “fire!”

A pale shadow of Dodens Evangelium. I would say the newest album sounds... more commercial, so to say. There are a few good moments, but generally it's just another black metal album among hundreds of others. 'Dodens' was a black metal pinnacle, gloriously towering over black metal mediocrity with its unbelievable atmosphere and distinctive style. 'Arisen' is barely average.

A pale shadow of Dodens Evangelium. I would say the newest album sounds... more commercial, so to say. There are a few good moments, but generally it's just another black metal album among hundreds of others. 'Dodens' was a black metal pinnacle, gloriously towering over black metal mediocrity with its unbelievable atmosphere and distinctive style. 'Arisen' is barely average.

Not that you'll get this as you haven't been on in nearly two years but this is pretty indicative of the reaction I've seen a lot of people have to this record. Granted it's not as good as the previous one but it's still a very good record. Far more subtle but the song writing is still there. Never saw the "more commercial" element of this either. That seems a slightly odd thing to suggest. Pretty sure this didn't fly off the shelf into the hands of Metallica lovers.